Hey guys, I'm looking to give driving lessons as a christmas gift, does anyone have any suggestions for where to go? I looked into Thunderbolt raceway but that seems to be reaaaallyy expensive and a little out of my budget. Any other driving school, or tracks in the area where someone would be able to learn?

Thanks JJ

 

Thunderbolt

No really, either Thunderbolt or Lightning at NJMP in Milville are your best bets. Outside of that, the only real tracks after that are Pocono (3 hours from where I live, about 1.5-2 hours from Philly), or Watkins Glen (about 6 hours from Atlantic City).

Trackdaze will be back at Thunderbolt in June for a Saturday/Sunday two-day event. One day for $265, both days for $480. It's a great company to run with on a fantastic track. Not chump change, but their prices are about the best I've seen unless you can get in with somebody like a regional Porsche Club (tinkfist may have some info on that). Totally worth it though

 

You looking at track stuff or just driving in general? IIRC, the Philly Region SCCA Autocrossers puts on what they call the Evolution driving school which teaches you about car control, etc. I took one down in the DC area and learned a ton. From what I remember it was quite affordable too. Track weekends are tough to find for under $300.

 

Interested in this topic too

 

If not restricted to the track I HIGHLY recommend the Evolution Driving school which is Autox based and a ton of fun, you get a lot of seat time and learn a lot.

 

Main question should be is do you want a school that is local and a few hours away, or a school that is a weekend getaway?

 

Everything is relatively expensive. Driving your own car or a school's car? Bertil Roos and Skip Barber offer the use of their cars for 1/2 day ,1,2,3+ days at Lime Rock or Pocono. "Cheaper" would be driving your own car for a weekend unless a mistake happens and it turns out to be more expensive. Auto-x or Evolution school is probably the least amount of risk.

 

http://www.racenow.com/a01_about.htm

I did roose at pocono many years ago. You'll learn a lot and get some time in an open wheel car.

I just did the 1 day training class.

 

Philly region SCCA has AutoX a "Novice School" that, while it's targeted to novice autoXers, teaches the basics of at-the-limit car control. We normally have multiple Novice Schools per year. For 2009, we had 3, starting in the spring (April IIRC).

The novice schools include about a 2-3 hr classroom session one day, and then all day of driving instruction the following day where you will easily get 2-3+ hrs of seat time with some of the best autoX drivers in the US, including two 2009 SCCA Solo2 National Champions. It's normally about $150 for the 2 days of instruction. Schedules for 2010 should be posted in maybe a month or two on phillyscca.com

Andrew

 

i did skip barber at lime rock and had an awesome time